When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) (38 page)

And now Alexia slept in the back of the car, unaware that she’d been snatched through the ceiling of the bathroom with security crawling through the building.

It wasn’t hard to admit he’d been right. Planning was everything. And the plan had worked. That dizzy, giddy feeling was addictive. Or was that the pill she’d popped before the dinner party?

Still riding that high, Lori Tabor wondered exactly how much longer Alexia had to live.

Alexia became aware of the sounds first.

Then the smells. Candles, freshly lit candles, burning. A musty smell. Mold.

The floor beneath her was cold cement.

The pounding in her head made her want to throw up. Some inner voice told her to be as still as possible. She cracked her eyes. Slowly.

And saw nothing.

Panic started. Was she blind?

No. She could feel something over her eyes. A blindfold? She tried to reach up to pull it off and realized she couldn’t move her hands. They were tied behind her.

The panic morphed into terror. Her blood started pumping. Someone had managed to kidnap her. They’d finally succeeded. In spite of all the security at the dinner. In spite of Hunter not leaving her alone and Chad’s diligent attention.

So. This is how it’s going to end, huh, God?

Something nudged her foot.

She feigned unconsciousness.

A harder nudge. Then a jab in the ribs.

This time she couldn’t hold back the gasp that escaped her.

“Wake up,” the voice growled. Lori? The woman who’d kidnapped her? Where was she?

Alexia squinted, but could only make out a faint bit of light at the bottom of the blindfold. She felt tremors start in her gut and work their way up. She couldn’t stop shaking.

The voice to her left laughed. “I see you realize you’re in a bit of a bad situation here.”

“What do you want? Why am I blindfolded? I already know who you are.”

“I want to know where Jillian Carter is. Or should I say, Julie Carson?”

Alexia frowned, wishing she could see the woman. “I know Jillian. I don’t know who Julie is.”

“But you know Jillian’s been in hiding these past ten years.”

“Yes.”

“And she’s been in contact with you.”

“No!” Frustration with the insistence that she knew where Jillian was nearly overshadowed the fear. “Why won’t you listen? I haven’t talked to her. I keep telling you I don’t know where she is.”

“That’s too bad for you. If you don’t know, then he doesn’t need you anymore.”

“He?”

“The reason for the blindfold. He’ll be here soon.”

Alexia felt herself drowning in the terror even as she felt the blade of a knife press against her throat. “And when he’s done, I get you.”

“What did I do to you? Why do you hate me?” Alexia whispered. “I haven’t seen you since high school.”

“Because you want the children,” Lori hissed, and Alexia jerked at the change. She sounded . . . different now. “He said you’d take them away. That you were here to spy on me. That you knew I killed Avery’s wife.”

A chill settled between Alexia’s shoulders. The woman was crazy. Insane. Psychotic. The list of terms ran through her mind even as her insides quaked.

“Well, you can’t have them. They’re mine now and no one, not you, not Devin, not even Marcie Freeman will take them away from me.”

From somewhere, Alexia heard a small voice calling, “Aunt Lori, where are you?”

And Alexia knew exactly where she was.

Hunter thought he might very well lose his mind. He had no idea where Alexia was or how to find her. Chad stood beside him. Together they watched the video provided by the hotel security. Chad said, “There, they go in the bathroom. Katie and Alexia, then Lori.”

“No one else went in there, just the three of them,” a security guard said.

“No cameras in the bathroom,” Hunter muttered.

“How did they know she’d use that bathroom?” Chad said.

Dominic entered the room. “Where are we?”

Hunter had called to let him know Alexia was missing. Dominic hadn’t wasted any time in getting down to the security offices.

“We’re not getting anything from the inside. Let’s see the outside cameras,” Hunter said.

After too much time scanning, they finally found the camera footage they needed. “Look. There.” Chad pointed to the two figures leaving out a back door. They each had on black clothing and masks. The person in the middle didn’t. Her back was to him, but Hunter could clearly see that it was Alexia and she was unconscious.

The two shoved her in the waiting car, then one drove off while the other returned to the building.

“Get the plates,” Dominic ordered.

“See who’s not here now that was earlier,” Hunter told one of the officers. “Be discreet if you can. If you can’t, that’s fine. Just get the information we need.”

The woman nodded and left.

The man in charge of security, Garrett Smith, sighed. “I can’t get the plates. The car’s angled away from the camera. They backed up and drove off.”

“They scouted the cameras and parked out of range on purpose. Back it up and play it one more time,” Chad said. “I want to see it again.”

Mr. Smith complied.

Chad slapped the table. “I recognize that car. Or one like it.”

“From where?” Hunter snapped.

“It pulled into the garage the night I was watching Alexia at the Tabor house.”

Hunter pulled his phone out and dialed Brian. The man answered on the second ring. “Brian, I need a quick favor. Do you have access to a computer?”

“Sure.”

“Pull up the DMV records for Avery Tabor, will you? I need to know what kind of car he drives and the license plate.”

“Hold on.”

While Hunter waited for Brian to come back on the line, he watched the video footage again. His heart thudded and fear roared through his veins, but he couldn’t acknowledge it. If he did, he’d never be able to think through finding Alexia. And right now, she needed him.

Please, God, be with her. Keep her safe. Let me find her. Show me what I need to find her.

“Okay, it’s a black Mercedes, license plate DOCTR A.” Brian rattled off the information along with the address.

“That’s definitely Avery Tabor’s address,” Hunter said. “He lives near Alexia’s mother.”

“What would he have against Alexia?” Chad asked.

“Who knows? Get a team over there and get Avery Tabor in here. We need to talk to him.”

While someone went to find Avery, Hunter slapped his phone to his ear, putting together a plan to rescue Alexia. Backup should be on-site within minutes. A SWAT team and a hostage negotiator on standby.

Was Avery still at the party or had he left to take her to his house? Or was this a wild goose chase?

Hunter’s phone beeped and he switched over to grab the call and put it on speaker so everyone in the room could hear. “Yeah?”

Dominic said, “I’ve checked the guest list against the people in attendance. Avery Tabor is here. His sister, Lori, isn’t.”

“Any indication that he left the party?”

“No.”

“Lori was in the bathroom with Alexia and Katie. She must have shot Katie and somehow managed to get Alexia up through the ceiling.”

Dominic broke in. “I’m going with the team to the house. I’ll be in touch.”

“Alexia wouldn’t have just cooperated,” Chad said. “She’d have fought tooth and nail and you would have heard the commotion.”

“No, she had to be drugged.” Hunter felt his heart clench. He prayed she was still out cold. As long as she was unconscious, she wouldn’t be scared.

Alexia was terrified. Who was the “he” Lori referred to?

Her father? Had he set all this up?

“You killed Devin,” she whispered when Lori returned from seeing to the child.

A hitched breath filtered to her ears. “Yes, poor Devin.” A sniffle. Was Lori crying? “He wasn’t supposed to be home. He was supposed to be cutting grass across town. But he was there and he moved wrong . . . and I . . .” A sob. Then a ragged breath. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“And you were waiting for me in the basement?”

“Yes.”

“And you planted the knife in my bedroom.”

Lori laughed, all sign of tears and remorse gone. “Yes. Yes, it was all me. The plan was to have you arrested for everything. In jail it’s much easier to get rid of someone. Unfortunately, the police didn’t cooperate with us, so we had to find a different way to get to you.”

We? All Alexia could think was that she needed to keep her talking. “Why kill Devin’s parents? That makes no sense.”

“They knew about me.” She said it like the answer should be obvious. It wasn’t. Really.

“Knew what?”

“That I wanted Devin. I was at his apartment before he lost it and moved in with your mother. His parents showed up and heard us arguing. Devin was interested in me before Marcie Freeman came into the picture.” Alexia could hear the fury in the woman’s voice. “He was going to ask me out, I knew it. I went to see him and . . . well, it doesn’t really matter. As soon as he died, I knew they had to die too. I just had to get to them before the cops.”

“Is that why you set the fire at Detective Isaac’s house?”

“I knew Hunter would be the one to question the Wickhams, so I created a distraction. I figured he’d postpone questioning them to rush to his partner’s side.” A coarse laugh escaped her. “He did.”

Please, Hunter, be looking for me. Please, God, show him where to look.
Keep her talking. “How did you get in my mother’s house? Steal my necklace?”

“Simple. When I killed Devin, I took his keys. Now shut up, I’m tired of talking.”

Of course.

“Wait a minute. That was you watching me in the dress shop, wasn’t it?”

A longsuffering sigh sounded from the woman. “Yes, I even gave the police a statement. Under a different name, of course. But it was so fun to watch all the action.”

Alexia didn’t know what else to say, to ask.

And then receding footsteps told Alexia that Lori was leaving the area.

The darkness was terrifying. Suffocating. Pressing down on her. She shifted, drawing her knees up and resting her forehead on them as she debated whether or not to slip the blindfold off.

Maybe not. If “he” came in and she saw his face, he might kill her on the spot. Then again, Lori wasn’t about to let Alexia walk out of here alive, so did it really matter?

A different set of footsteps sounded.

42

Saturday, 7:56 p.m.

Avery Tabor looked nervous. “What’s this about that couldn’t wait until after my dinner?”

“Where’s your sister?” Hunter demanded.

Annoyance chased the nervousness from his face. “I don’t know. She said she was going to the restroom. I haven’t seen her since. Now, if you don’t mind . . .” He turned in the direction of the door.

Hunter stepped in front of him. “I do mind. There’s evidence that says your sister and an accomplice kidnapped a woman tonight. One person drove off, the other came back to the party. Did you leave the table for any reason?”

Shock bleached the doctor’s face white. “What? No. You can check with the people at my table.”